The Judas Cradle
This procedure has remained essentially unchanged from the Middle Ages until today. The
victim is hoisted up in the manner shown in the accompanying illustration, and lowered
onto the point of the pyramid in such a way that his weight rests on the point positioned
in the anus, in the vagina, under the scrotum or under the coccyx (the last two or three
vertebrae). The executioner, according to the pleasure of the interrogators, could vary
the pressure from zero to that of total body weight. The victim can be rocked, or made to
fall repeatedly onto the point. The Judas cradle was thus called also in Italian (culla di
Giuda) and German (Judaswiege), but in French it was known as la veille, “the
wake” or “nightwatch”. Nowadays this method enjoys the favour of not a few
governments in Latin America and elsewhere, with and without improvements like electrified
waist rings and pyramid points.